Tofu Note: Sorry, everyone, Beast Boy took my disclaimer and replaced it with this. I'd like to take the time, then, to address a very serious matter. Tofu doesn't really taste that bad. Tofu is food like any other, and it's up to you to decide whether or not it's on your top ten foods to definitely eat. The only reason I'm saying this is because I feel like rambling… that, and the fact that if by some miracle I someday do find myself in possession of the Teen Titans and the Bats, then none of the tofu companies will be very happy with me.
Bats in Jump City Chapter 6:
"Batman's calling us back… And he wants Robin to come with us." Batgirl stared at her hands. She finally met Robin's eyes. "Will you come with us?"
"No." Robin frowned.
"Yeah, that's what I thought…" Batgirl went back to looking at her hands and mumbling. Hey, it's not like you were actually expecting him to come running to Batman with all the tension (understatement of the year!) between them. It's not like you were actually hoping he would.
"My place is here with the Titans and Batman can't just summon me like a child anymore!" Robin continued, on the verge of ranting at Batgirl. "Did you really expect me to just up and leave my team?!"
Batgirl flinched slightly and noticing it Tim said quietly, "Dick, shut up."
Startled mid-speech, Robin stopped abruptly and looked up at Tim (he had been pacing angrily).
"Ever hear the saying 'Don't kill the messenger'? Well, don't take it out on Babs. Are you coming or not?" Tim said, his voice staying level.
"Robin, I think it would be beneficial for you to spend some more time with your family." Starfire said gently.
"But you guys are my family now [ouch, poor Babs. And anyways, what are you guys going to do without–" Robin started
"I wouldn't worry about us. I'm sure we'll hold up for a while without you, oh fearless leader," Raven said dryly.
"Yeah, and I've got new computer programs to cover all those areas of the city that you're always skulking for crime around," Cyborg added helpfully.
"No, I can't just leave you guys, and in fact, I won't! Batman can go and stick his lousy invite up his-" Fortunately, whatever rude remark Robin was about to make about his old mentor was cut off when Beast Boy kicked open the door of the living room with his foot and staggered in under a pile of grocery bags full of [three guesses, people… tofu. He collapsed under his towering load on top of a table. An inarticulate sound could be heard from underneath the pile.
Robin cocked an eyebrow and asked cautiously, "Are you alright Beast Boy?"
Beast Boy wiggled his head out from under Tofu Mountain and slowly grinned. "THE TOFU'S HERE!!!!!"
"Robin! Are you coming or not? There's a train we've got to catch," Tim asked.
"Well, I don't know…" Robin said his resistance crumbling.
"Decide… quickly…" Batgirl groaned as she turned green smelling the scent of tofu.
Robin sighed. "Let me go pack."
Five minutes later…
The Bats were saying their good-byes to the Titans while Robin was upstairs throwing things into a backpack.
"Very sweet of you to come to Batgirl's rescue after Robin blew up like that," Raven said smirking slightly at Tim.
"What can I say? I'm a sweet guy," Tim replied cheekily. "Aren't you going to miss me once I'm gone?"
"I certainly won't be missing all the emotions you emit. Annoyed much with Robin? This could be our last impromptu therapy session." Raven asked sarcastically.
"Since you're offering…" Tim grinned and ducked away from the sofa cushion that Raven threw at him playfully.
Meanwhile, Starfire was giving Batgirl her going-away hugs, the ones that leave you gasping for breath and wincing from bruises and broken bones (or are those just Starfire's regular hugs?).
"Star, if you don't let go of me soon… gasp…" Batgirl turned from her tofu-induced shade of green, to an oxygen-deprived blue.
"I just wanted to tell you, friend Batgirl, that I completely trust you with my boyfriend," Starfire said sweetly, "while at the same time telling you that if you are to do anything that would in any way jeopardize my relationship with Robin…" She let her threat trail off. Batgirl tried to say something but choked, on the verge of suffocation.
"That's what I thought, dearest friend," Starfire said finally releasing Batgirl from her death grip. "I will miss you very much, Barbara. Please visit again soon." Starfire added sincerely.
"That was almost as bad as the tofu… Almost." Batgirl smiled weakly and staggered away, careful to stay out of Beast Boy's line of vision.
Cyborg laughed at the remark and slapped her on the back good-naturedly. Leaning down, he whispered, "Don't worry about the tofu BB stuffed in your packs. I replaced it with some meaty food from Mega Meaty Meat."
"Thanks, Cy," Batgirl laughed. "You're the best!"
That night…
A train ran peacefully in the distance. In one particular compartment, three teens sat idly in an uncomfortable silence.
"Okay, I know we already talked about this, but I've GOT to ask again… WHY SPEEDY?!?!" Dick burst, "I mean, he's an idiot, he's a vain idiot, and he's a vain, idiot player!"
"Come on, Dick, give Babs a little credit." Tim sighed.
"Thank you, Tim," Barbara said giving a sweet smile to Tim [awww…, "and Dick, you really 'ought to trust me more. Barbara Gordon is probably the only girl in Gotham, Steel, or Jump City that actually runs background checks on her potential beaus. I know everything about Roy Harper and his little after school activities." There was a superior look in her eyes. "Roy Harper never told Barbara Gordon about being a superhero or his little heroin run-in or about his ex-girlfriend Jade Nguyen who he didn't really break up with."
Dick and Tim cringed simultaneously. "Babs, that sounds a little harsh. I guess it's a safer dating process and I'm all for that, but you're looking at people's private lives, at things they might not want you to see."
Her eyes glistened with tears and her voice trembled. "Well, maybe I wouldn't feel so insecure in relationships with other guys if a certain best friend hadn't walked out on us without reason or explanation one night." She sounded dangerously close to sobbing.
Dick glanced at Tim and raised his eye brows. Tim answered by letting the corner of his mouth turn up. "You can stop pretending to cry now, Babs."
The tears disappeared and Babs' voice was flat. "Thanks a lot Tim, you little traitor! Why don't we get off my life and bother Tim about his?"
"What's there to say? I don't have many friends and I'm breaking up with Cassandra." Tim shrugged casually.
"What? Why, Tim? She absolutely adores you!" Babs exclaimed.
"Yeah, she does, but I don't think I love her as much as she loves me… and her parents freak me out. I swear, they're assassins or something." He shuddered.
"Oh well, I never did like her too much," Barbara commented, further convincing Dick that Babs really had a crush on Tim [Does she really? Or is Dick still a romance-idiot?. "Well, I guess that brings us to you, Dick. How goes your social life?"
"You met all my friends; Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. And we all know I'm going out with the most beautiful girl in the world." Robin said proudly.
"Yeah, but what about school?" Babs asked ignoring the twisting sensation in her heart.
Blank stare.
"Let me get this straight. You escaped the Dark Knight's fatherly, but extremely tight grip, founded your own team, got to fight the Brotherhood of Evil and humiliate the baddies on a global scale, AND you don't have to go to school?!?!" Tim asked eyes wide in shock.
Nod.
"Man, my life sucks…" Tim groaned.
"I think it's about to get suckier," Babs sighed as an alarm sounded and crashes came from the other side of the train. Taking out her laptop from her backpack, Barbara flipped it open and started typing. "Did you guys know that this train is carrying practically a zoo full of exotic insects? And who's our favorite villain with a thing for the creepy crawlies?" She glanced up from the screen and saw that the boys had both already changed into their costumes. With a chuckle, she got out of the train compartment to get into her own outfit.
"You guys start off on Killer Moth without me. With some luck, we can bag Killer Moth and give him to Bruce for a present," Barbara said waving them off.
"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that as a joke or not…" Robin muttered to Tim as they ran towards the direction of the crashes.
"Daddy!!!!" Kitten Moth was sitting impatiently on a crate. "You said Robin was here and I could get a second date with him if I helped you steal those icky, gross, bugs. Well guess what, Daddy. HE'S NOT HERE!!!"
"Uh, there, there, Kitten, I'm sure he'll be here any minute. Why don't you help daddy load these containers into the car?" Killer Moth said trying to sooth his daughter.
"I don't think so, Killer Moth," both Robins said at the same time.
"ROBBIE-POO!!!!"
Author's Note:
I'll leave it there and next chapter we'll see Batgirl kicking Kitten's butt (and oh yeah, in the episode with Ding Dong Daddy, Revved Up, Kitten and Fang are driving in a pink limo and she's STILL in her junior prom dress. This is MY story and no way is a villainess, albeit and really stuck-up one, going into battle in pink) And um, sorry I didn't update as usual last week, but I was sick with a bad case of writer's block. Yes, so please review…